A Waukesha man accused of ignoring a recall notice in the mail is being sued for six figures.

Last April, Roger Jacak was cooking breakfast for the disabled woman he cares for when the fire alarm sounded in their Waukesha apartment building.

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“I had to quick get her dressed and get her medications,” Jacak said.

“I walked out through the door to see where the fire was, and when the police officer seen me, I said, ‘I'm going right back in to get her.’ He said, ‘No, you're not. These two firemen are going to get her,’” Jacak said.

Everyone got out safely, and police documented the aftermath in photos. Investigators said the fire started in the building's underground garage. Its epicenter was the engine compartment of a now-charred 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix.

The car was totaled, and the fire severely damaged the building's plumbing and electrical systems.

The fire marshal's report revealed the Grand Prix was part of a highly-publicized General Motors recall in 2009.

GM warned, "Drops of engine oil may be deposited on the exhaust manifold through hard braking, increasing the risk of an engine compartment fire." The fire marshal said the Grand Prix never got the recommended recall repair.

The apartment complex and its insurance company are suing the car's owner, saying he "failed to have the Grand Prix serviced to fix a General Motors recall issue of which he had received written notice," causing a $500,000 in damage and lost rent.

No one from the apartment complex would comment. The car's owner has moved out of the building. No one answered at his new address, his business or his phone.

Court records say process servers haven't been able to find him either. Legal experts said he may be legally liable.

“You get a warning from whatever motor company that this can cause fire problems. If you don't get it fixed, and you decide, No. 1, not to park it outside somewhere in the middle of the street, and you decide not to get it fixed, and the fire occurs, and it does damage to someone, liability is going to attach in that situation,” Marquette University law school professor John Kircher said.

“The alarm went off, and the hallway was full of smoke,” said Gerald Long, who lived in the Waukesha apartment building.

Long was evacuated from his apartment after the fire, spent 10 days in a hotel, and had to get his car a new paint job. But things could have been worse. He uses an oxygen machine to help him breathe. He said the car owner should have fixed his car.

“You got to otherwise something like that can happen,” Long said.

Kircher said the law expects people to fix flaws they know pose danger to themselves and others.

“Read them (the recall notices),” Kircher said.

WISN 12 News tried repeatedly to contact the car's owner without success, so it’s not known if he ever got a recall notice, but the Marquette University law professor said he could still be held responsible.

The manufacturer usually covers the cost of repairing the defect, but consumer experts said it's much harder to get them to pay for the damage that defect caused. The best bet is usually asking your insurance carrier to cover your loss. Suing the car company might require hiring a lawyer and cost you more in legal fees than the damage itself.